A few days ago I received an email from a reader of this site and I found that much of it has universal application. Each one of us struggles with these questions at times. For that reason, and with his permission, I will make my response public. Here is a part of what he sent me:
Personal situation with universal question: My wife and I are adopting 2 kiddos from Africa that have HIV. That’s all planned, no surprise, grace given to us to do so, praise be to God. Throughout this, I continuously pray for my kiddos over there. Yelling, crying, heart wrenching (I’m tearing up right now thinking about it) kind of prayers. They are very sick, and I want my babies home with me. They’re dying of starvation and little medication over there. I don’t feel like I keep praying the same prayers because I don’t believe God cares or can take care of it, I pray because it’s breaking my heart, I badly want by children home, and I want it to stay as a “top-shelf issue” in front of God. Am I wrong in my theology and practice by continuing to pray for the same thing? I sometimes feel that it’s blasphemous to re-pray something, as if I’m insinuating that God is not listening, doesn’t care, doesn’t remember, or needs to re-prioritize His to-do list.
And now my answer.
Over the past few weeks I have been reading a book by David McIntyre called The Hidden Life of Prayer and just yesterday I read a section that looks at petitioning God in prayer. McIntyre offers up some thoughts that are directly applicable to your situation. He says that the foundational reason we ought to ask God for the things that are important to us is that God commands us to. It is as simple as that. All through the Bible we are told things like “make your requests known to God” (Philippians 4:6). And so we pray to God in obedience to God.
But a question remains: why? Why would the Lord choose to do things in this way, to have us ask him and even repeatedly plead with him for his blessings. McIntyre offers four reasons and I think these reasons come into sharper focus the longer and the more fervently we pray.
Let me encourage you with McIntyre’s encouragement: Take heart and to see that the Lord is accomplishing something through your prayers, something greater than if he were to give you what you desire apart from fervent, tear-filled prayers. He is creating within you a greater dependence on him, he is establishing greater communion with you, he is preparing you for the final answer to that prayer, and he is giving you the privilege of cooperating with him in this world. That he is forcing you to wrestle with him in prayer flows out of his goodness, not out of ambivalence or miserliness.
So don’t lose heart. Don’t lose heart, and don’t feel guilty about praying again and again, even in the same way for the same thing. I’m sure you will find it a joy to read and meditate upon Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8). Luke says “he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” The very purpose of this parable is to encourage us in prayer, not only to pray, but to keep on praying and after that to keep on some more. It is an argument from the lesser to the greater. Jesus says, “If even an unjust human judge will eventually give in to continual pleadings, how much more will a good God answer your petitions?”
Finally, remember as you pray that God is your Father. This gives you the right and privilege of relating to him as a son. It may be helpful to consider how you would speak to your earthly father if he was the one who had the power and ability to release those children to you. How would you speak to him? What would you ask? Speak to God in that way. Be respectful, of course, acknowledging his position and authority, but plead with him as a son pleads with a father. Make your case, be clear with what you think you and those children need, and trust that God’s purposes are even better and even more loving than your own.
Links:
[1] http://www.challies.com/christian-living/pleading-with-god-in-prayer#disqus_thread
[2] http://www.challies.com/print/6111
[3] http://www.challies.com/writings/prayer
[4] http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.challies.com%2Fchristian-living%2Fpleading-with-god-in-prayer&t=Pleading+With+God+in+Prayer
[5] http://twitter.com/home?status=Currently+reading+www.is.gd%2FjpRk1R
[6] http://delicious.com/save?v=5&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.challies.com%2Fchristian-living%2Fpleading-with-god-in-prayer&title=Pleading+With+God+in+Prayer
[7] http://www.challies.com/feed
[8] http://www.challies.com/printmail/6111